Rick Santorum on Corporations

Republican Jr Senator (PA)

Small business pays more tax because big guys have loopholes

Q: In your jobs program you propose to eliminate the corporate income tax for manufacturers, but not for other businesses. Isn't that picking winners and losers?

SANTORUM: No, it's not. What we do is cut corporate taxes for everybody. We cut it from
35% to 17.5%, make it basically a net profits tax. So part of what we are trying to do is to have a government system that can compete with who our competitor is. The competitor at the local drugstore is not China. The competitor is other people.
And as long as that is level and everybody's paying, the big corporations and the little ones--and that's why we have a flat 17.5%--so we keep the little guys paying the same rate as the big guys who right now, with this very complex code,
a lot of folks in there trying to reduce rates by using the tax code to shrink their tax liability. So we've leveled the playing field for the guys here in this country and we've created a competitive environment for the manufacturer.

Companies run into a stiff headwind called government

Q: What about job creation?

SANTORUM: I come from southwestern Pennsylvania, the heart of the steel country, the heart of manufacturing. And it's been devastated because we are uncompetitive. Thirty years ago we were devastated because business and
labor didn't understand global competitiveness and they made a lot of mistakes. They weren't prepared for it and we lost a lot of jobs. That's not what's happening now. Our productivity gains, our labor force, they're doing their job, they're being
competitive. But they're running into a stiff headwind called government. And it's government taxation, 35% corporate tax which is high--the highest in the world. It's a tax that doesn't easily offset when we try to export.

Q:
Everyone on this stage is for lowering the corporate tax.

SANTORUM: No one wants to zero it out for manufacturers and processors, which is what I do because we are at 20% cost differential with our nine top trading partners on average.

Cut all corporate tax rates to zero

What we need is a pro-growth plan that can pass the Congress with Democratic support and be able to rally the American people. What the American people want is a policy that's going to get people the opportunity to rise in society, to fill that great
middle of America, and that is manufacturing jobs.

That's why my plan takes the corporate tax, which is 35%, cuts it to zero, and says, if you manufacture in America, you aren't going to pay any taxes. We want you to come back here.

Source: 2011 GOP Tea Party debate in Tampa FL
, Sep 12, 2011

Cut the corporate tax to zero, to create jobs

I've put forward a plan because I think it's the best plan that actually can pass the Senate. And what I focused on was a sector of the economy that can get Democratic votes.

We cut the corporate tax from 35% to zero, because we want to build the
great middle of America again, get those jobs that were shipped overseas by companies that were looking too make a profit because they couldn't any longer do it here, and bring those jobs back to America.

We cut that corporate rate to zero. We pass repatriation to get those resources that are overseas, $1.2 trillion, and we bring them back here.

We'll create jobs, and I'll get Democratic votes to pass it.
We'll bring things together, because those industrial state Democrats--and I know, because I'm from an industrial state--they will vote for this bill. You want to get something going, elect someone who knows how to get things done.

Cut corporate tax rate to zero & jobs will come back

Q: [to Pawlenty]: You say your economic plan with tax cuts and spending caps would grow the economy by an average rate of 5% a year for 10 years. With the last two quarters averaging less than 1% growth--is your proposal just pie in the sky?

PAWLENTY:
Well, the US needs a growth target, and it needs to be an aggressive and bold growth target.

SANTORUM: America has unbounded potential. And
I think putting a limit on that potential, we've grown at faster rates than that. When I grew up, 21% worked in manufacturing. It is now 9%. If you want to know where the middle of America went, it went to China, it went to Malaysia, it went to Indonesia
We need to bring it back. I put together a four-point plan to do it. The big thing I proposed is to take the corporate rate which makes us uncompetitive, particularly in exporting goods, take the corporate rate and cut it to zero for manufacturers.

Voted YES on reforming bankruptcy to include means-testing & restrictions.

Amends Federal bankruptcy law to revamp guidelines governing dismissal or conversion of a Chapter 7 liquidation (complete relief in bankruptcy) to one under either Chapter 11 (Reorganization) or Chapter 13 (Adjustment of Debts of an Individual with Regular Income). Voting YES would:

Declare a debtor eligible only for Chapter 13, as anyone financially capable of paying back their creditors at a rate that still allows them to earn above their state's median income

Place domestic support obligations such as child support and alimony amongst the first priority claim category of non-dischargeable debts on a debtor filing for bankruptcy

Require debtors to pay for and attend credit counseling prior to filing for bankruptcy

Cap home equity protection at $125,000 if the debtor purchased a house within 40 months of filing for bankruptcy.

Voted YES on restricting rules on personal bankruptcy.

Vote to pass a bill that would require debtors able to repay $10,000 or 25 percent of their debts over five years to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy (reorganization and repayment) rather than Chapter 7 (full discharge of debt).

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